2014 Kansas City Chiefs Mock Draft: Pre-Free Agency Edition

Jan 25, 2014; Mobile, AL, USA; South squad quarterback

of San Jose State (12) against the North squad during the second half of a game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. South defeated the North 20-10. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Round 5: Kansas City Chiefs
David Fales
QB, San Jose State

Read the beginning of this profile and tell me this doesn’t sound something like Alex Smith.

Quick-footed in his drops with an excellent feel in the pocket to step up and maneuver while keeping his eyes downfield. Smart pre-snap reads and understands exactly where he wants to go with the ball, using his above average peripheral vision.  …Terrific accuracy (72.5% completions in 2012) and gives his target a chance to make a play. Always appears calm, collected and in control of the offense. selfless personality with the preparation habits needed for the next level. …Ambitious and coachable with a strong work ethic.

So you’re telling me is he’s smart, knows what to do with the ball quckly, has good pocket awareness, extremely accurate in short and mid-ranged throws, but doesn’t have a lot of arm strength? This sounds like the basis for Alex Smith, does it not?

Granted, Smith is taller and a better athlete than Fales, and Fales is noted for being willing to take more chances. They are not perfectly alike. However, Fales sounds like the kind of west coast system guy who could at the very least turn into a solid back-up for the Chiefs quickly.

Question about Fales almost always come back to his size, athleticism, and arm strength. He’s a guy who fits in only a few systems, one of which happens to be one the Chiefs run. Fales has experience with the pistol formation and shotgun formations the Chiefs like to use. In fact, Fales started his career at Nevada before transferring to San Jose State. He’s not a guy who is going to be able to run the read option but that shouldn’t be a big deal.

He may not be the eventual replacement for Alex Smith, but there is reason to think he could have that ceiling. At the very least he’s a cheap backup quarterback option for Smith when Chase Daniel leaves.

Round 6: Kansas City Chiefs
Cornelius Lucas
OT, Kansas State

Lucas is the second of the two repeat picks from the pre-combine draft.

Since we last saw Lucas we found out A) he’s a really large human and B) he’s going to miss six-to-eight weeks with a stress fracture in his left foot. The result may mean Lucas falls out of the draft and is forced to go the undrafted rookie route. We’ll keep selecting Lucas in the sixth round for now until we A) learn if Lucas is likely to fall out of the draft or not or if B) we find out Kansas City has acquired a seventh round pick.

Lucas did show up at the combine and was officially measured as being 6-8, 316 pounds. If he can prove to be agile enough to fit in Kansas City’s offense then he would be a great candidate to fill the vacant swing tackle role. His strength is pass blocking but he has some technical things to work on in the running game. Get those issues ironed out and Lucas could be a steal for the Chiefs.

Round 6: Kansas City Chiefs
Dri Archer
RB/WR, Kent State

Trying to figure out Dri Archer‘s draft stock is difficult. He’s listed as a running back but he is most certainly going to be flex wide receiver guys like Dexter McCluster was for the Chiefs. Given the depth of the wide receiver class in this draft – NFL Draft Scout has Archer listed as the 26th best receiver in the class – and Archer’s size issues it would seem reasonable to think Archer could fall to the sixth round.

On the other hand: 4.26 40-time.

The fit for the Chiefs is obvious as Archer would be a developmental guy who would ease into McCluster’s role. Given how long it took for McCluster to transition from running back to wide receiver (though Todd Haley didn’t help the transition much) and the jump from the MAC to the NFL, it would seem Archer’s rookie snaps would be limited. However, throw A.J. Jenkins and Abbrederis into the mix plus maybe a free agent signing and the Chiefs should be good to go at wide receiver in 2014 with good upside for 2015.

What’s more intriguing about Archer is what he could do as a returner in a Dave Toub coached return unit. His speed and agility would be hard to stop in general, but imagine how hard it would be to catch him with Toub’s blocking schemes clearing the way? I’m not going to get my hopes up on this happening in real life so I may just edit the next year’s Madden roster to ensure Archer is a Chief as a consolation prize.

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This draft fails to come up with a solution at free safety and middle linebacker so those may be two places the Chiefs need to attack in free agency. There are also some questions about the interior offensive line that will need to be addressed if Kansas City cannot re-sign one of their two free agent guards.

It isn’t a perfect draft by any means. Kansas City could really use some more picks, preferably one or two more between rounds three and five. Trading down from the 23rd overall pick to the top of the second round could get them the added middle round picks and net them Stephon Tuitt, who has seen his stock slip since his injury was announced. Tuitt at the top of the second round plus an extra third and fourth round pick would do wonders for the Chiefs.